Comments Off on UPS’s Tom Madrecki, director of urban innovation and mobility, on driving the transition to alternative-fuel fleets

A new research report from UPS and GreenBiz presented new findings that also confirmed what many in the industry had already suspected: “the value of partnership, among OEMs, users and cities, all together at the table,” said Tom Madrecki, director of urban innovation and mobility at UPS.But action is still lagging — under 50 percent of private companies are having these conversations, Madrecki noted. That means there’s much more opportunity out there.

Comments Off on Lynda Clemmons, VP of sustainable solutions at NRG, on transformative energy generation

“Our customers want things to be simple. Everybody wants to meet their sustainability goals. They want to do the right thing … in a clean and green way,” said Lynda Clemmons, vice president of sustainable solutions at NRG Energy, the U.S.integrated power company. The company is working a new project called “Renewable Select” that combines generation and retail to bring the choice of renewables to customers who want it, but might not have as large a purchasing power as the Googles and the Microsofts, as Clemmons noted.

Comments Off on Paul Stith, director of strategy and innovation at Black & Veatch, on the changing electrification ecosystem

Black & Veatch is a 104-year-old-company working on transportation, power, water and more “behind the scenes.” The long-time sustainability stalwart has focused on accelerating the low-carbon, high-power revolution, partnering with big names such as Tesla and Electrify America to maximize impact.

Comments Off on UPS is developing an electric delivery truck with a startup

The odds are growing that the package you’ve been waiting for will be delivered in a truck powered by a battery.Delivery giant UPS announced this week that it’s partnered with a small tech startup called Thor Trucks, based in Los Angeles, to create and test out an electric delivery vehicle.The truck, a class 6 with a battery range of 100 miles, is supposed to be available later this year. UPS will test it out over a 6-month period and determine whether it wants to make a larger purchase order.

London officials met at City Hall this week to discuss the best way to move forward with a ban on cars in certain areas of the city on specific days of the year. If the initial trials are successful, the city will consider “more ambitious plans” for 2019. These moves are a response to the public health threat of air pollution, which prematurely kills thousands of people each year. London City Hall is reportedly planning to inaugurate car-free days unique to each borough of the city and will build upon the previous car-free days set for special events. This policy is one of several intended to improve public health by reducing air pollution in London. A spokesperson for the mayor told the Guardian, “Tackling toxic emissions from the most polluting vehicles is a core part of the hard-hitting measures the mayor has introduced to help clean up London’s air, from delivering the Toxicity-Charge (T-Charge) in central London, to the early introduction of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone, and transforming the bus fleet.” Related: UPS declares the “beginning of the end” for combustion engines by making its London fleet entirely electric The city is taking action in the wake of a joint inquiry by four committees in Parliament, which described air pollution as a “national health emergency” that causes the premature death of 40,000 people every year in the United Kingdom . The committees’ report highlights the inadequacy of the British government’s clean air policy plan, which has already been rejected by the high court three times. To compensate for the lack of a national movement against pollution, cities such as London are taking action. A spokesperson said, “[London Mayor Sadiq Khan] is determined to do everything in his power to protect the health of Londoners and prioritise walking, cycling and public transport and reduce Londoners’ dependency on polluting cars.” Via The Guardian Images via Pedro Szekely/Flickr and Martin Hesketh/Flickr

Comments Off on UPS declares the "beginning of the end" for combustion engines by making its London fleet entirely electric

UPS has announced major investments in its vehicle-charging infrastructure as the company moves to electrify its London fleet, one of the largest in the world. The company recently deployed innovative smart grid technology that is capable of supporting a fully electric fleet of 170 trucks or more. “The breakthrough signals the beginning of the end of a reliance upon traditional combustion engine powered vehicles,” said the company in a statement . The ‘Smart Electric Urban Logistics (SEUL)’ initiative was created in partnership with UK Power Networks and Cross River Partnership , with funding from the United Kingdom’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles . The SEUL infrastructure incorporates a central server, which coordinates with electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, the grid power supply, and on-site energy storage. Though the company currently uses new batteries in its storage, UPS hopes to incorporate second-use batteries from electric vehicles into its infrastructure in the future. Related: Waymo adds 20,000 Jaguar electric SUVs to its self-driving car service UPS believes that it is well-positioned to lead the way into an EV future. “UPS thinks this is a world first, right in the heart of a mega-city” said Peter Harris, director of sustainability for UPS Europe. “We are using new technology to work around some big obstacles to electric vehicle deployment, heralding a new generation of sustainable urban delivery services both here in London and in other major cities around the world.” UPS is also invested in other electrification efforts, such as the conversion of 1,500 combustion-engine trucks to battery-electric in New York City and the increased purchasing of electric trucks from companies like Tesla and Daimler. The company has a long history of support for electric vehicles, with its earliest electric trucks introduced in the 1930s. Via Electrek and UPS Images via UPS

Tesla just issued their biggest ever recall involving over 123,000 Model S cars. The automaker said they noticed excessive corrosion in power steering bolts, The Verge and Agence France Presse reported. They’re voluntarily recalling the cars and will retrofit impacted cars with a new part that will resolve the issue. Tesla recalled thousands of Model S cars built before April 2016. There haven’t been any crashes or injuries reported connected to the issue — in an email sent to customers, the automaker said this is a proactive move. According to Agence France Presse, the problem has only been observed in locations where salt is used on winter roads to melt ice or snow, but Tesla will retrofit all Model S cars containing the part. No other models are involved in this recall. Related: The Tesla Semi just made its first cargo trip transporting battery packs Tesla’s email said, “If the bolts fail, the driver is still able to steer the car, increased force is required due to loss or reduction of power assist. This primarily makes the car harder to drive at low speeds and for parallel parking, but does not materially affect control at high speed, where only small steering wheel force is needed.” The company said if an owner hasn’t experienced issues, they don’t have to cease driving the cars, and that they would let owners know when retrofits, estimated to take around one hour, were available in their area. The Verge said this is Tesla’s largest recall; in 2015 they recalled 90,000 Model S cars due to a faulty seat belt, and in 2017 they recalled 53,000 Model X and Model S vehicles because of a parking brake issue. The publication also noted the recall comes right as the company is getting ready to report quarterly deliveries — people will be watching to see how many Model 3 cars Tesla has delivered to customers this year. Via The Verge and Agence France Presse Images via Depositphotos and Wikimedia Commons

Comments Off on Leaked memo shows that EPA staffers were told to downplay the reliability of climate science

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees received talking points that appear to fit right in with Administrator Scott Pruitt’s skepticism of humanity’s role in climate change . Meant to develop “consistent messages about EPA’s climate adaptation efforts,” the talking points — obtained by HuffPost — emphasized the uncertainties in what we know about climate change and concluded with, “Administrator Pruitt encourages an open, transparent debate on climate science .” EPA employees got eight talking points from career staffer Joel Scheraga, who worked under President Barack Obama, on how to talk about climate adaptation. The first said the agency “recognizes the challenges that communities face in adapting to a changing climate.” The next three talked about promoting science and working with local and tribal governments on improving infrastructure. Related: Scott Pruitt thinks global warming could be favorable for humans The final four took a detour into the realm of uncertainties. Talking points five and six read, “Human activity impacts our changing climate in some manner. The ability to measure with precision the degree and extent of that impact, and what to do about it, are subject to continuing debate and dialogue. While there has been extensive research and a host of published reports on climate change, clear gaps remain including our understanding of the role of human activity and what we can do about it.” EPA spokesperson Liz Bowman told HuffPost, “This is not an official memo; this is simply an email among colleagues, based on information developed by someone in our office…implying we are telling people to downplay climate change is a gross over misrepresentation of the facts.” The Washington Post said the email had been written based on scientifically unsound, controversial statements from Pruitt. HuffPost said Pruitt personally oversaw moves to remove climate change from agency websites, and has defended President Donald Trump’s decision to yank America out of the Paris Agreement . The Union of Concerned Scientists ‘ Center for Science and Democracy deputy director Michael Halpern told The Washington Post, “The EPA administrator should not be in the business of telling scientists what they should say publicly about basic scientific information. The implication is that EPA wants a political filter on all scientific information emerging from the government , especially if it has to do with climate change.” Via HuffPost and The Washington Post Images via The White House on Flickr and Depositphotos